Apolla
by TamX2
Summary: Severus Snape is 17, and he's being forced to go see his dad by his dear mother. However, when he's there, he learns a little about compassion, and about a little girl who never gave up on trying to save her mom. AU,Rating just for safety--suicide


I was just being odd, pondering about good ole Sev. I just wondered what his relationship was like with his dad, and when he went bad. I don't think it was immediately. Personally, I don't think he's bad, but that's another story! This is probably a oneshot, unless people ask for a sequel...

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own it.

On the London train one dreary morning, a young man sat silently, glaring at his feet. The black hair that escaped from his short ponytail fell over his eyes, and he ground his teeth furiously. His name was Severus Snape, son of Tobias Snape, a Muggle.

You may ask what a muggle is, and you will be answered: simply put, one who is non-wizarding folk. Severus was a wizard, and he blamed his witch mother for marrying that Muggle man every day. However, his mother insisted that he go visit his father for a week each summer, and he had not the heart to refuse her.

His father knew of his son's disgust with him, and simply did not let it bother him at all. The boy was young, and strong, and perhaps someday would stop hating his father for what he could not help.

The train pulled to a stop, and Severus got off quickly, hurrying through the rain towards his father's house. More accurately, his father's inn. His dad ran a cheap but clean inn, where people low on funds could stay for a couple of nights. Severus rolled his eyes at the idea of bothering with those kinds of people: if they can't help themselves, what's the point? Why bother trying to keep them healthy and safe? But his father had always said, when Severus asked him, "Someone helped me a long time ago. He said not to bother paying him back for the favor, since he had enough money anyway. He said to help someone else in need when the opportunity came."

Severus had to admit, although grudgingly, that his father was not short on funds at all now. Around Severus' birth, Tobias had invested in some Muggle enterprise, and gotten rich. He then had turned around and started helping other people, never staying in the spotlight of fame at all.

When Severus reached the gate to the inn, he paused and stared up at it, puzzled. Strange, but it suddenly felt different to him. He narrowed his eyes, trying to pinpoint the feeling. Annoyed, he gave up, and went up the walk and knocked on the door.

His father opened it, and smiled at his teenage son. Although Severus had done little to earn it, he had his father's unconditional love. Severus knew that his parents loved each other deeply, even after Tobias found out about sweet Eileen Prince being a witch. Severus secretly admitted that he found his father's acceptance impressive, considering the hatred that had run rampant among the Muggle population for witches and wizards for hundreds of years.

"Come on in, Severus! How was your trip?" Tobias asked, beckoning Severus in out of the rain. Severus shrugged and put his backpack on the floor as he took off his sodden jacket. Tobias took it and hung it up, chatting about the guests and how business was. Severus listened and followed his father down the hall to the kitchen.

Tobias sat his son down and started puttering around the kitchen, fixing tea and talking cheerfully about a new guest and her daughter. Severus immediately perked up at the mention of the daughter, who Tobias said was a sweet and funny girl. Severus thought tiredly, 'Is he trying to set me up with a house guest?'

Tobias continued on, unaware of his son's thoughts, "She's the smartest muggle girl I have ever met! Already helps her mother out, and only six years old."

Severus fought to hide a smirk as he corrected himself, 'Nope. Definitely not trying to set me up. Most definitely not!'

Tobias carefully set out the tea and handed Severus a cup. Severus continued to listen to his father's happy chatter about a young girl who showed a remarkable ability to feel her mother's moods and make her happy again.

Tobias paused, and asked, "Did you hear something?" Severus shook his head. "Strange, I could've sworn I heard something fall. Hmm, everyone's out right now except for Cornelia, Polly's mother. She said that Cornelia was tired, and took some sleeping pills to help her sleep." Severus remembered that Tobias had mentioned that the little girl's nickname was Polly. Tobias thought, his brow wrinkled, and then shrugged. "I must have been hearing things."

Tobias moved on to new subjects, asking Severus about his schooling and the wizard world's news. Severus answered his father thoughtfully, and the two were soon debating whether magic or electricity was more useful to the world when the front door slammed, and footsteps ran down the hall.

Tobias and Severus quickly stood up and dashed to the door, Severus beginning to pull out his wand. They stopped short when they saw a little girl furiously pulling off her coat and hat. Tobias walked up to her, and knelt down, stopping her frantic movements and gently pulling off her coat and hanging it up. When she started forward again, he stopped her, and asked softly, "Apolla, what's wrong? What's the hurry?"

Severus stared at the girl curiously. He rarely saw muggle children, and found their way of looking at the world enlightening. His eyes widened when Apolla pushed Tobias' arm off her, saying quickly, "My mom's in trouble!"

Tobias followed the girl down the hall toward the stairs, asking, "What are you talking about! Your mom's fine!"

Apolla stared at him, her deep blue eyes penetrating and clear. "Do you call suicidal fine?"

Severus heard a sharp intake of breath from Tobias and asked quickly, "Why do you say that? How do you know something's wrong?" Apolla clenched her fists and shook her head, indicating that she had no idea how she knew. She turned and darted toward the stairs. Severus and Tobias stared; confused as the small girl rushed up the stairs and down the hall towards the rooms she and her mother were staying at. She flung open the door and stopped, staring. Her hand fell from the doorknob and her breath slowed. Tobias swore and ran up the stairs, Severus following.

Both the men stopped short at the sight they saw: a woman, blue-faced and dead, hanging from the ceiling. Tobias turned and ran to a telephone, calling the police. Severus took in a sharp breath and forced his eyes away from the gruesome sight and turned them toward the little girl. She continued to stare at the body, not blinking, barely breathing. Severus reached forward and covered her eyes. She jumped, and looked up at him. He pulled her away from the door and closed it, shutting out the sight of the poor girl's mother.

Apolla turned her face away and whispered, "I was too late. I should have known she'd do this. It's all my fault." At this last sentence her voice broke. Severus immediately knelt down and wrapped his arms around her.

He said, from his heart, "Don't say that. It's not your fault, and don't you think that. NO one can see the future."

When he said this, Apolla started to cry and whispered, "But I can! That's how I was always able to stop her before! I would take her out, or stay with her all day, and I didn't! I didn't even know! Why didn't I see it? I've always seen before, and this time I didn't see until too late! It's all my fault!" Severus held her tighter, feeling his heart wrench at the pain in this little girl's words.

He whispered softly, "You may be able to see, but no one can stop the inevitable. Everyone dies someday, sometimes sooner than others." He understood Apolla's pain, and felt sympathy. It was a large burden to see the future, and not be able to stop it.

Apolla put her arms around his neck and said, despair in her words, "Whenever I felt that she was thinking about death, I always kept her occupied. But I always saw her die in my dreams. The same dream every time! And, and now…" her voice trailed off.

Severus realized the painful truth: Apolla had seen her mom die tens, possibly hundreds of times, and now it had all come to nothing; Cornelia had died the very way Apolla had seen it.

The pair turned at Tobias' footsteps on the stairs. He looked at them, pale and shaken, and said, "The police are coming. They said not to go in again until they get here and…and…remove the" Apolla cut him off. "Remove the body?" Tobias nodded. Apolla swallowed and bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears. Severus noticed and gently picked her up and started downstairs. Tobias glanced at him.

Severus said quietly, "Let's go down to the kitchen, okay?" Tobias nodded gratefulness in his features. Gratefulness for him taking control, Severus realized, sadly.

When they reached the kitchen, Severus gently put Apolla down on a chair, and started brewing some tea. Apolla said softly, "You can just use your wand, you know." Severus started and stared at his father, who looked just as bewildered. Apolla shrugged, and tapped her head. Severus relaxed, understanding: She could tell, just by looking. Part of her powers, he guessed, and shrugged, taking out his wand.

Now that he was seventeen, he could do magic outside of school. He was pretty sure that the Ministry would understand the situation for doing magic, and if they didn't, Professor Dumbledore would vouch for his dad and Apolla.

The police showed up, and Tobias showed them up to Apolla's shared rooms with her late mother, leaving Severus and Apolla with a young cop, who impatiently asked them questions and acted basically useless altogether. The three witnesses had agreed beforehand that there would be no mention of Apolla's gift, and would just say that she had come home early from her walk. The officer was very annoyed that Severus had only just gotten there that day and that Apolla had not been at home at the time of death. He continued hammering the two with questions until Tobias walked in, looked at the officer angrily questioning them and Apolla near tears, and called a superior in. The sergeant told the officer off for being useless, and sent him back to the station. The sergeant apologized and said that they would call them in the morning, and ushered the other police officers out of the inn and back to the station.

When all was silent again, Tobias suddenly said, "Severus, you never introduced yourself!" Severus glanced at his dad, and shrugged. He turned to Apolla and said politely, "Sorry. I'm Severus Snape, Tobias' son."

Apolla looked at him, and started laughing. Severus and Tobias stared at her, bewildered. She looked at them, and burst into laughter again. She explained between laughs, "Sorry, it's just that, well, I could tell! Tobias never stops talking about you, and Eileen. He's completely bonkers over both of you!" Severus turned to stare at his father, and Tobias looked away, bright red. The three started to laugh together, and Severus realized that his dad really did love him, and felt warmth spread through him that stayed with him long into the night. It was a feeling of belonging, which he had never felt before, not with his mom, and most definitely never at Hogwarts, where he never had any friends.

As the years went by, after that fateful meeting, Severus never lost that feeling of belonging at his father's inn, even though Apolla had been sent away shortly after her mother's suicide to an orphanage, from which she was adopted and moved far away from England. He heard from his father, who kept in contact with Polly, that she never had another vision after her mother's death, but he doubted that her power was gone completely. He suspected that she just didn't tell anyone anymore.

It was only after Severus joined the Death Eaters that he recognized the strange air that he had felt when he had entered the inn. It was Power. Granted, the power in the inn was entirely different from the power of Voldemort. The power at the inn was pure and undiluted, full of hope and love.

He talked it over with his father, and they decided that it had to have been the lingering mark of Apolla and her sight. Severus knew that someday Apolla would return to the little inn, and would have harnessed and controlled the remarkable ability she had to a point where it would never be able to leak out and become tainted by greed and hate, like Voldemort's had.

-Fwee- Hope y'all's enjoyed. NO FLAMES, only critiques. So please hit the little button! I'm just a newbie and need help!


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